Students’ project benefits local food pantry

By Kayla Edgar

Students in all residence halls on campus will have a chance to give back to the community during The Hunger Games Food Drive competition that runs through Nov. 25.

The food drive is between the east and west residence halls. All food donations are going to the local Whitewater food pantry, and the winning complex will receive a free pizza party on Dec. 2.

A box where students can drop off non-perishable food items during normal front desk hours will be located in every residence hall. Each complex has to reach a minimum of 1,000 donations in order to receive the pizza party, which isn’t much considering the number of students in each hall.

The food drive is being run by a group of students from a project management class.

“We had to pick a project that we thought would be beneficial to the community,” said Joe Schultz, a member of the group. “My family was actually a part of the food pantry growing up, so I know how hard it is on families not to have food on the holiday season.”

Kalyn Maxfield is another member organizing the food drive. Maxfield is going into the supply chain and operations business, specifically project management.

“It’s been a really good opportunity to actually work on a project in a larger scale and being able to get that community involvement, because it’s really important,” Maxfield said. “Lower income families are really in need right now.”

On the average week, the Whitewater Food Pantry supplies food for 50 families. The busiest times of the year are around Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter.

“As a student, I’ve lived here for all four years, and it’s nice to finally give back to the community that’s given to me for four years,” Maxfield said. “It’s nice to return the favor.”

If students are interested in keeping track of donations, they can check the leaderboards that will be posted in the UC on Oct. 30, Nov. 6, and Nov. 20. Students also can check The Hunger Games Food Drive Facebook page.

“It is important to think, ‘What would you do if you were in their shoes?’” Maxfield said. “You don’t really understand what it’s like to struggle unless you’ve been there. You never know, one day you

might actually be in that position, and it would be nice to think that someone is still thinking about you.”

It is important to remember that the food pantry needs help all the time, and not just the holiday season. January, February and March are the months with the least amount of donations. Even after the food drive is over, students are encouraged to keep donating.

“This is really important because this goes towards a good cause, and there are a lot of families in need that could really use the help,” Schultz said. “Just knowing from my own personal experience, they would greatly appreciate it.”